ProducePay Raises $38 Million to Expand Fresh Produce Industry Platform

ProducePay, an AgTech company focused on strengthening the fresh produce supply chain, has raised $38 million in Series D financing.

With this capital infusion, the company plans to further develop its technology and services and accelerate its global expansion to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, ProducePay said in a Monday (Feb. 5) press release.

ProducePay’s Predictable Commerce Platform provides growers and buyers with transparency and predictability in the fresh produce supply chain, helping them eliminate economic and food waste, according to the release.

The fresh produce industry faces numerous challenges, including extreme weather events, supply shortages and price fluctuations, that contribute to the volatility of the industry and lead to economic and food waste, the release said.

The company’s growth and global scalability have attracted a group of investors who recognize the company’s potential to address these challenges, per the release.

ProducePay’s partnership with Four Star Fruit, one of the world’s largest growers and shippers of table grapes, has shown promising results, according to the release. The collaboration created a Predictable Commerce Program that improved efficiency and waste reduction in Four Star’s transactions.

Within the first six months of the partnership, the program achieved a 90% reduction in rejection rate, 31% fewer days in transit for fresh produce, 50% fewer stops along the delivery pathway to retail, and 41% fewer days in cold storage, the release said. Additionally, the program resulted in a reduction of 356 tons of CO2e that would have otherwise been emitted from food waste.

ProducePay’s funding round was led by Syngenta Group Ventures, the venture capital arm of AgTech company Syngenta Group, per the release.

“By connecting growers from around the world with quality retailers and buyers, ProducePay is making it possible to reduce food and economic waste while giving farmers greater financial security, and we are excited by this opportunity to work closely for a stronger future in agriculture,” David Pierson, managing director of Syngenta Group Ventures, said in the release.

With the world becoming more complex, more will be done to ensure reliable supply channels in the produce industry, ProducePay CEO and founder Pablo Borquez Schwarzbeck told PYMNTS in an interview posted in March 2022.

“So, in our minds, this is the most important time to be making these investments — because ultimately securing safe sourcing of food will become much more important as the world continues to look at those things that really matter in a world full of uncertainty,” he said.

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